Homemade Croutons

It's so easy to make homemade croutons and they're delicious, too.  Make your own because they seriously taste better than the store-bought ones!  I ate lunch at Lee's Sandwiches and saw a big ol' bag of "one day old" french bread pieces for a dollar.  One dollar!  The bag was bigger than a gallon-size ziploc.  What a deal!  They were the ends of the baguettes and they were of various sizes but they were still soft to the touch and seemed pretty fresh.  I bought the bag with intentions of making croutons but I'm saving a few of the bigger pieces and making mini sandwiches for my boys.  They'll love that!  FYI, Lee's serves Vietnamese sandwiches called Banh Mi and they're delicious.  If you haven't tried one, you should!

Ok, back to the croutons.  Rather than making my own combination of seasonings, I use Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning that I bought at Costco.  I love that seasoning for my garlic bread and on fish, too.  It's the perfect combination of garlic, parmesan cheese, salt, and whatever else they put in there.  It's good!  Day old french bread, italian bread, and even the heels of regular loaves are perfect for croutons.  I've tried all three types of bread but my favorite is the french bread croutons.  They're airy and crunchy and can be eaten alone as a tasty little snack.  Yum!  The croutons will last 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.

Bag o' Bread

Toss oil mixture and bread cubes in a large bowl then spread evenly onto baking sheet.

Golden.

Crunchy goodness.

Homemade Croutons

Yield:  4 to 8 cups: depends on the amount of bread you use.

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf bread
• 1/2 c  extra virgin olive oil- amount of oil and seasoning depends on the amount of bread you use.
• 2 tbs Johnny's Garlic Spread & Seasoning- or seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, seasoning salt, etc.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Measure out oil and seasonings.  Stir and set aside.
3. Cut bread into bite size cubes.  Try to keep cubes uniform in size so they bake evenly.
4. Cut all the bread and put cubes into large bowl.
5. Stir the oil/seasoning mixture and slowly pour over bread cubes.  Toss well to coat.
6. Spread cubes evenly onto lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until bread is golden brown.  Toss cubes several times during baking.
8. ENJOY on salad or by the handfuls!